Ibogaine in Colorado: What State and Federal Law Say

Ibogaine Colorado questions have a short answer on the sources we read on 30 and 31 October 2026: we found no licensed ibogaine program operating in the state. Ibogaine is still a federal Schedule I substance. Colorado's 2022 natural medicine law named it, the criminal-code definition enacted in 2023 lists it without a condition, a 2026 law created a research pilot that cannot run without federal approval and outside funding, and the latest official document we read describes ibogaine as still awaiting approval for the licensed healing-center program. This page sets out what the official texts say and what they leave open, including that we could not read the current codified statute from an official site and could not find the official record of a reported referendum petition, although no referendum on the 2026 act appears on the certified November 2026 ballot. It is general information, not legal advice, and it does not say whether any person, clinic or program is lawful.

Federal law still applies

The Drug Enforcement Administration's list of Schedule I hallucinogenic substances includes ibogaine as entry (d)(21) of 21 CFR 1308.11, with the alternate name Tabernanthe iboga. No source we read shows ibogaine removed from that schedule, although we did not search the Federal Register for later DEA actions. State law is a separate layer, and the Colorado texts below say so themselves.

Federal agencies are also working on ibogaine research. On 5 October 2026 the Food and Drug Administration announced a request for information on the design of early-phase ibogaine clinical trials (docket FDA-2026-N-10429, comments due 20 November 2026). It covers study design, dose selection and escalation, care setting, eligibility criteria, stopping rules, monitoring for cardiac and neurologic events, informed consent and independent safety oversight. The announcement does not address scheduling or legal status.

Proposition 122 as filed in 2022

The Natural Medicine Health Act of 2022, which the 2026 fiscal note calls Proposition 122, names ibogaine. We read the initiative text as filed with the Secretary of State. This section describes that 2022 filing, not necessarily the statute as it reads today.

As filed, the definition of "natural medicine" in section 12-170-103 listed dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine, mescaline (excluding peyote), psilocybin and psilocyn, with no condition attached to ibogaine. The personal use section (12-170-109) said that, subject to the article's limits, possessing, using and giving away natural medicine without payment for personal use was not an offense under state or local law when the person is 21 or older, and that personal use does not include sale for payment. The same text said it must not be read to exempt anyone from federal law or to obstruct its enforcement.

The Legislative Council's fiscal note on the 2026 bill summarizes the result in one sentence: the personal use and possession of ibogaine was decriminalized as part of Proposition 122. That is a staff summary, not the statute.

What the 2026 law changed about personal use

Section 8 of House Bill 26-1325 amends C.R.S. 18-18-434, the criminal code section on offenses relating to natural medicine, which is where the personal-use definition now sits. We read the enacted text. Its new language says nothing in that section permits a person to advertise natural medicine or natural medicine product, to advertise bona fide harm reduction or support services offered for payment (except as the personal-use definition allows), or to use harm reduction or support services to conduct sales of natural medicine. Its examples of prohibited sales activity include operating a retail store, vendor table or booth that dispenses natural medicine for payment, selling services or items that include transferring natural medicine, paying recurring fees to acquire natural medicine, and online sales. It also says bona fide harm reduction or support services with no exchange or sharing of natural medicine are not subject to the section.

The section also edits the definition of "personal use." As printed in the session law, personal use is consuming or using natural medicine, or the amount a person may lawfully possess, cultivate or manufacture that is necessary to share with another person 21 or older in the context of counseling, spiritual guidance, community-based use and healing, supported use or related services. It does not mean selling for payment, possessing, growing or making natural medicine with intent to sell, or doing so for business or commercial purposes, except under the licensing laws. Payment for bona fide harm reduction or support services used while shared natural medicine is consumed is not ruled out, if there is no advertisement of the sharing or the services offered and the person providing the services tells the other person that they are not a licensed facilitator. One limit on our reading: the printed session law shows deleted and new words together and our text extraction does not show which is which, so confirm the final wording against the codified statute.

The fiscal note describes the same changes briefly: state law does not permit advertising harm reduction or support services unless they fall under the personal-use definition, advertising natural medicine, or using those services to conduct sales. The section 8 text we read is written for natural medicine in general and does not mention ibogaine.

What the criminal-code definition lists

Colorado defines natural medicine in two separate places. In the licensing laws (C.R.S. 12-170-104 (12) and 44-50-103 (13)), which govern the regulated healing-center program, the 2026 session law prints as existing text that natural medicine includes ibogaine "if recommended by the board and approved by" the director and the executive director of the state licensing authority. The criminal-code section reads differently. Senate Bill 23-290 (Chapter 249 of the 2023 session laws, approved 23 May 2023) added C.R.S. 18-18-434, and its definition of natural medicine in subsection (12)(b)(I) lists dimethyltryptamine, mescaline, ibogaine, psilocybin and psilocyn, with no board or director condition. Its subsection (5)(a) says that, unless expressly limited by that section, article 170 of title 12 or article 50 of title 44, a person who possesses, consumes, shares, cultivates or manufactures natural medicine for personal use and without remuneration does not violate state law or local ordinance.

Senate Bill 24-198 (Chapter 452 of the 2024 session laws) changed only the spelling of psilocyn in that list. Section 8 of the 2026 law amends (5)(c), adds (5.5) and edits the personal-use definition in (12)(d), but does not touch the list in (12)(b). So on the session laws we read, the filed 2022 initiative's unconditional list carries into the criminal-code definition, and the board-and-director condition sits in the licensing definitions for the regulated program.

Three limits apply. These are enacted session laws, not the current codified statute: the official C.R.S. PDFs on content.leg.colorado.gov returned an empty response to our automated requests, so we could not read the codified text from an official site. We did not search for amendments to this section other than the three session laws named here. And we do not say how a court would apply the "unless expressly limited by" clause in subsection (5)(a), or whether any person's conduct is lawful; state law also does not change the federal listing above. That needs the codified statute and a Colorado lawyer.

Ibogaine and the licensed healing-center program

The initiative's regulated program began with psilocybin and psilocyn only. It said that after 1 June 2026, if the Natural Medicine Advisory Board recommended it, the Department could add dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine and mescaline. The fiscal note dated 9 July 2026 reports that the board recommended in 2025 that ibogaine be included, subject to sourcing through the Nagoya Protocol, and that ibogaine may be included as a natural medicine upon approval of the executive director of the Department of Revenue.

The 2026 law keeps that gate. The session law prints, as existing law, that natural medicine in the licensing laws includes ibogaine "if recommended by the board and approved by" the director and the executive director of the state licensing authority. Its new language also covers semi-synthetic ibogaine made from the Tabernanthe iboga or Voacanga africana plant if the board approves it. And it says adding further natural medicines depends on available funding, so the licensing authority is not required to add one without enough money. For scale, the fiscal note gives an informational estimate of $520,000 and 5.0 staff positions to create a regulatory program for ibogaine.

We found no official statement after 9 July 2026 saying that approval has happened. The Department of Revenue and Division of Professions and Occupations natural medicine pages refused automated access, so a more recent notice may exist. On these sources, then, no licensed ibogaine program is operating in Colorado. That is a finding about what we could read, not proof.

The 2026 ibogaine research pilot

The law adds a new section creating an ibogaine research pilot program in the Behavioral Health Administration, to support research on the safety and effectiveness of ibogaine for mental health conditions and substance use disorders. The Administration may approve up to five pilot sites. An applicant must show an intent to pursue federal approval and must establish a benefit-sharing plan that directly benefits Indigenous communities traditionally connected to ibogaine or iboga.

Federal approval and money are built into the text. It says operating a pilot site is contingent on federal approval, allows the Administration to seek federal authorization under 21 U.S.C. 872(e), and tells it to help sites submit an investigational new drug application to the Food and Drug Administration. The main provisions take effect only if the Administration receives $150,000 in gifts, grants or donations, or an equal in-kind value, before 1 January 2028, and the section is repealed if the remaining cost is not covered within 365 days after that. We did not find an official figure for donations received. So the pilot cannot start until federal approval and the funding condition are both met.

One sentence is easy to misread. The law says the pilot section does not preclude a person from administering ibogaine outside the pilot in compliance with federal law, or as permitted under the natural medicine laws. That describes what the pilot does not block, and like the pilot's other main provisions it takes effect only once the funding condition is met. It does not say that any particular activity is lawful.

Effective date and the reported referendum petition

House Bill 26-1325 is recorded as Chapter 372 of the session laws, approved 4 June 2026, with a scheduled effective date of 12 August 2026. Its section 18 says that if a referendum petition were filed within the ninety-day period against the act or any part of it, that part would not take effect unless voters approved it in November 2026.

A petition aimed at section 8, the personal-use change, was reported. Westword and a campaign called Voted to Share described a referendum petition against it. We could not open either page directly and know of them only from search-result summaries. Three official records bear on the outcome. The General Assembly's page for the bill lists it as "Became Law" with an effective date of 08/12/2026 and mentions no petition. The Secretary of State's referendum petitions page said on 31 October 2026: "No referendum petitions approved for circulation at this time." And the Secretary of State's news release of 4 September 2026, "Secretary of State Jena Griswold Certifies 2026 Colorado General Election Ballot", lists the 14 statewide measures certified for the 3 November 2026 ballot: Amendments 81 to 87, Propositions 132 to 137 and Proposition NN. None is a referendum on HB26-1325, and the release does not mention a referendum, the bill or natural medicine.

So the certified ballot shows no referendum on the act, and no source we read shows section 8 held back. What we did not find is the Secretary of State's record of what happened to the reported petition, such as whether signatures were filed or found sufficient, so we cannot say why no measure appears.

What the rules are directed to cover

The law directs rulemaking on ibogaine use and administration to include medical prescreening, which may include an electrocardiogram, blood tests and genetic tests, continuous medical monitoring during an administration session, oversight by trained and experienced medical professionals, and extended integration or aftercare as appropriate. It also lets the licensing authority make rules limiting products that contain ibogaine because of its health and safety risks. These are instructions for future rules. We did not read any adopted rule.

Legal status is not a safety signal

A substance's legal position and its medical risk are separate questions. A 2026 review in the journal Addiction describes a rare but clinically significant risk of prolonged QTc interval and potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmias with ibogaine, reports published cardiac events at therapeutic doses including in people with no known heart disease, and calls for treatment only under controlled medical supervision with close monitoring of heart function. We read the abstract only. It does not say that any setting is safe, and neither does this page.

What we could not confirm

• Whether the Department of Revenue has approved ibogaine for the healing-center program since 9 July 2026.
• Whether the pilot has received its $150,000 threshold, or has chosen any site.
• What the Secretary of State's records say about the reported petition against section 8, although no referendum on the act appears on the certified November 2026 ballot.
• The current codified text of C.R.S. 18-18-434 and the licensing definitions from an official site, and any amendment to them other than the three session laws named above.
• Any adopted rule, and anything a lawyer would add. No lawyer or agency was contacted.

How this page was made

We read each source named here on 30 October 2026, and re-read the bill status page, the Secretary of State referendum page, the ballot certification release, the FDA announcement and the 2023 and 2024 session laws on 31 October 2026. The federal regulation was read through the Cornell Legal Information Institute mirror because the official eCFR site blocks automated reading, so confirm it against eCFR. Colorado texts came from the General Assembly and Secretary of State PDFs and web pages. We did not use clinic or provider pages as sources, and we did not contact anyone. Laws and agency actions change, so check current sources before relying on this page. If you or someone you know has a health question about ibogaine or about stopping a substance, talk with a qualified physician.